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Ericsson opens first Regional Support Center in Africa

Ericsson opens Regional Support Center (RSC) in Africa to deliver more efficient services to operators

First of its kind on the continent

Will serve Ericsson’s customers in 43 countries across sub-Saharan Africa

Working to harness and develop young talent.

The rapid development and evolution of the telecoms industry across sub-Saharan Africa means high demand for a wide range of support services. Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), the world's largest provider of telecom services, has therefore launched a Regional Support Center (RSC) in Accra, Ghana.

The RSC aims to ensure the delivery of fast, high quality support services to operators, covering Core and Access Networks, Value Added Services, Intelligent Networks and Network Management Systems. It offers a pool of experts working in collaboration with existing first line support teams, dedicated to improving network availability and performance as well as the seamless deployment of new services and technologies that will enhance the user experience.

Speaking at the launch of the Center, Alan Triggs, Vice President and Head of Operations in sub-Saharan Africa and Country Manager, Ericsson Ghana, said: "Ericsson is committed to providing a high quality of service to our customers. With this center we will be able to improve our response time by providing them with expertise closer to home." Triggs also said: "This shows Ericsson’s commitment to nurturing local talent and driving the sustainable development of telecommunications in Africa."

The facility recently employed 20 graduate trainees from universities in Ghana who are working with senior engineers to mentor and develop their skills base. The Center also works closely with Ericsson’s global support service organization, drawing on experience from customer support operations all over the world.

Eva Elmstedt, Vice President and Head of Product Related Services, Ericsson, said: "Ericsson has a long-standing history of working with proactive support services which improve the user experience by anticipating and preventing service disturbances. This is of course in addition to reactive support services. We believe this offering will become an integral part of customer operations in the African continent in the coming years."

Ericsson’s service delivery framework is based on common processes, methods and tools shared between its global and regional operations. Ericsson has more than 65,000 service professionals in 180 countries, including an average of 15,000 subcontractors, which are well positioned to support customers’ services needs around the world.

Notes to editors

Our multimedia content, including footage of a Network Operations Center, is available at the broadcast room.

Ericsson is the world’s leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 2 billion subscribers and has the leading position in managed services. The company’s portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.

Ericsson is advancing its vision of being the “prime driver in an all-communicating world” through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 90,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion) in 2010. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.